Worsening drought conditions in McLennan County have farmers and local residents thirsting for more water.

More than half of McLennan County is now experiencing an exceptional state of drought, the highest designation, according to a Texas drought indicator map updated Thursday by the National Drought Mitigation Center.

“There’s really nothing that works to fix a drought except long and sustained rains,” said Gene Hall, spokesman for the Waco-based Texas Farm Bureau. “We’re almost at the point now where it’s going to take a hurricane breaking up over the state to really do it and, of course, you don’t want to be in the position of wishing for a hurricane. But it might take some sort of tropical event to break this drought.”

Hidden Valley resident David Boehner uses a hose sprinkler to water his yard because water pressure in the subdivision is not strong enough for his underground sprinkler system.
Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald

Hall estimates the drought has caused more than $1 billion in damages statewide in failed crops, crops that cannot be planted and dry, barren pasture lands.

He said even in the record-breaking drought of 2006 and severe drought conditions in 2009, Central Texas still saw some spring and winter rains.

But this year there has only been 9.68 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service, compared to Waco’s average of 16.08 inches by this time.

John Lake, a meteorologist intern with the National Weather Service’s Fort Worth office, said Waco could see some rainfall on Wednesday, when forecasts predict a 30 percent chance of rain. Unfortunately, drought creates a weather pattern in which precipitation events are few and far between, Lake said.

“The lack of moisture in the ground means there’s less moisture available in the air, which we need for rain,” Lake said. “It’s a problem.”

The dry atmosphere means residents are using more water to hydrate parched lawns. City of Waco Water Utilities Spokesman Jonathan Echols said water usage jumped to 49 million gallons Thursday, compared to about 37 million gallons the same date last year.

“This month, we have done over 40 million (gallons) almost every single day, and now we’re almost at 50 million,” Echols said. “People are using a lot more water, basically.”

The drought has exacerbated water pressure problems for some residential subdivisions in an annexed area near the McGregor Airport.

David Boehner, a resident of Hidden Valley Estates, said his water pressure has been so low at night that the heads of his automatic sprinkler system sometimes won’t pop up and one of his toilets will barely flush.

Boehner said he’s had water pressure problems for several summers, but the heavy water demand has made this summer especially bad. 

“We’ve had nothing but heat and no rain, and landscapes all over the city are distressed,” he said.

He said his water pressure one night this week dropped from 72 pounds per square inch, or psi, to less than 32 psi.

He said his sprinkler system is designed for at least 50 psi.

Boehner was an outspoken opponent of the 1998 annexation of the West Highway 84 corridor. He said the city is falling behind on its responsibility to provide adequate and consistent water pressure.

Echols said the problem has been ongoing in that area for several years as more people have moved into those subdivisions. Water lines installed when the subdivisions were first built are no longer adequate to meet the demand, he said.

While the lines can pump the state-mandated 35 psi, most households tend to use 50 to 60 psi during the drier summer months.

Echols said the city soon will begin constructing a new pressure release valve in the area that will allow for more continuous water pressure in the area, providing a short-term fix to the pressure issues.

The city also has plans to install a new 24-inch water pipe that will service Boehner’s area and should permanently alleviate the water pressure issues.

That project is in the design phase and is expected to be completed in 2013.

The drought has also meant heightened safety concerns over the potential for wildfires sparking and rapidly spreading across dry lands. Millions of acres of land have been destroyed across the state this year by wildfires, Hall said.

The county is under its second burn ban of the year. The county’s drought rating on the Keetch-Byram Drought Index Friday was 605 out of 800, with some areas as high as 682.

County Judge Jim Lewis issued a disaster declaration Thursday, banning the sale and use of all fireworks in the county for the Fourth of July, just two days after county commissioners banned aerial fireworks.

Staff writer J.B. Smith contributed to this report.

rdennis@wacotrib.com

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